04/15/2026
I’m someone who wrestles with depression, and many of my worst episodes have started with a long season of burnout. Because of this, I approach burnout recovery a bit differently now: instead of collapsing into inertia, I try to build a gentle balance of rest, small pleasures, and tiny intentional actions.
In Autistic and AuDHD burnout, rest is deeply necessary, but rest alone can sometimes tip into numbness, inertia, and that heavy, depressive “stuck” feeling. When rest is paired with doable sources of pleasure and sensory nourishment, plus a bit of structure that respects our actual capacity, it can help us stay out of that immobilized inertia trap. I think of this as finding a rest-and-pleasure balance: gentle routines, soothing sensory input, and special-interest time.
I write more about AuDHD inertia, the lethargy cycle, and adapting behavioral activation for AuDHD folks in this week’s research article: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/managing-burnout-with-rest-and-pleasure/
